Washington, D.C. — Through the U.S Conference of Mayors, 101 mayors from 33 states are jointly calling on Congress to fix the nation’s broken immigration system by passing bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform legislation. From cities large and small, the mayors have signed a bipartisan letter urging members of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate to enact comprehensive immigration reform that would:

Strengthen our borders while assuring that state and local law enforcement remains focused on community policing;

Implement a framework that enables people of goodwill currently living in the shadows to come out and fully pursue the American dream.

The letter also indicates the mayors’ support for bipartisan efforts that would grant temporary protected status to shield from deportation, undocumented immigrants who came here as children, many of whom have known no home other than the United States of America. Building on the Mayors’ Day of Immigration Action held on March 21st, the letter tells Congress that “in the absence of federal immigration reform, mayors and their cities continue to seek strategies to protect the safety of all their residents while ensuring that local law enforcement is focused on community policing.”

It also notes that “all mayors have taken oaths to uphold the law and defend the Constitution,” and that “mayors of cities big and small across the nation, in conjunction with local law enforcement, are committed to ensuring that all criminals, regardless of their immigration status, are properly adjudicated by the criminal justice system.”

“While we work diligently on building and preserving the trust of all the communities we serve, our local law enforcement has a long history of working in cooperation with federal authorities to make our communities safe,” it continues.

“The United States Conference of Mayors has called for bipartisan immigration reform for many years,” noted Tom Cochran, USCM CEO and Executive Director. “Mayors have a ground level understanding of the pressing economic and moral imperatives that necessitate working in a bipartisan manner to begin fixing our immigration laws. The nation’s Mayors stand together and committed to working with Congress and the new Administration in a bipartisan manner to fix our immigration system to ensure that our communities are safe while allowing all of our residents to thrive.”